The epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury in New Zealand was investigated over a 10-year period using data from 929 patients newly admitted to New Zealand’s two spinal rehabilitation units between January 2007 and December 2016. The incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury increased by 6% each year with an average incidence of 22 per million people. The incidence in Māori increased by 14% per year with an average incidence of 29 per million people. This was 1.8 times higher than the average incidence of 16 per million people in Europeans. The most common causes of traumatic spinal cord injury were falls (32%), transport (32%) and sports (22%). Cervical spinal cord injuries were predominant with an incidence of 54%. Cervical level injuries were most prevalent in adults aged >75 years (70%) and accounted for a higher proportion of spinal cord injuries in Maori (61%) and Pacific (76%) patients. Hospital length of stay decreased over the study period but surgical rates remained stable at 77%.
